The Beauty of New England

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When I first learned I would be moving up north, I just knew I wanted to go and explore the New England area. I’ve always loved Boston, even though I had never been there, and I knew as soon as I got up here, that would be on my to-do list. For two months, I’ve been waiting to take my trip and I was finally able to when I got back from my Bama vacation!

I woke up one morning, got ready and just decided to go on a road trip. Of course, the first thing I see was NYC as I drove across the George Washington Bridge. Amazing way to start my little journey off.

I really had no plan of where I was going. I just knew I wanted to end up seeing Boston. As I made it through New York and into Connecticut, I started seeing signs for Yale University. I’ve always heard that Yale has a beautiful campus and decided, rather impulsively as I entered New Haven, that this would be my first stop of the day. The campus was gorgeous. If you ever have a chance to see it, it’s definitely worth it.

My next stop on my day long journey was in a little town called Mystic, Connecticut. If I remember correctly, there was a movie years ago based in this town. This town was incredibly beautiful and peaceful. I was able to pull over at one point to capture a little piece of the beauty.

After this little stop, I was suppose to head to Boston but quickly changed my mind and decided on a new route. I’m very glad I did. I decided I would instead head to Providence, Rhode Island. I’ve never really had a big interest in RI nor have I heard much about it but after this little trip, I definitely want to go back to Providence. This city was incredible. I just wish I could’ve spent more time there!

Next stop…BOSTON! I really wish I could’ve spent more time here as well. I’ve wanted to go there for so long and at one point, I was even looking at going to school there. I didn’t even know where to start in this city! I eventually found a cute little park, Piers Park, I could walk around in that gave amazing views of the city skyline. I could look at city skylines all day and Boston’s was added to my list of favorites after this trip. Boston Harbor is definitely something you should see at least once.

I had finally reached the city I wanted to come to and now it was time to go back home, or was it? I really had no reason why I had to be back early and I kind of wanted to explore some more but I didn’t know where to go. I then remembered telling my niece that I would find a lighthouse for her. While I know lighthouses are all up and down the East Coast, I automatically associate lighthouses with Maine. So Maine it was. But before I could get to Maine, I had to go through New Hampshire. After looking at the GPS, I decided to head towards Portsmouth, NH.

The drive through NH was just as beautiful as the rest of the trip but I was definitely looking forward to Maine. My grandfather was born in Maine but I knew I wasn’t going to make it up that far; however, it was nice getting to see some of the state and the beauty it had to offer. I decided I would go up to Kittery Point, ME.

This little town was incredible. It’s right on the coast so you know it’s gorgeous. But it was also very calming and gave me time to think and just relax. So often, I feel like I’m just always on the go and never really get to experience the small things. Well, at this stop on my trip, you couldn’t help but to just slow down and breathe! Absolutely incredible. And, of course, I found my lighthouse. Two of them actually! 🙂

After my time in Maine, it was time for me to head back home. I still had one more state that I wanted to go to, Vermont, but I just didn’t wanted to get home that late. I already had a 5 hour drive ahead of me and would have to drive 2 hours just to get there. So I decided to head back to Jersey. Only if I would’ve known how the rest of my night would go.

I made it just about 1.5 hours outside of NYC when things just stopped. Literally, at 11:00 pm, I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. After an hour, I had moved ONE mile!! By 12:30 am, I was getting aggravated and tired because I had been up since 7:30 am. I was also irritated that I hadn’t gone to Vermont because I was trying to get home at a decent hour but that wasn’t working either. Then it got worse. Someone rear-ended me…at 12:30 in the morning, in bumper to bumper traffic. To make it even worse, I’ve only had this car for 2 months! But thankfully, I was not injured and neither was the other driver.

By the time the police got there, did the police report and I got through traffic,it was about 2:00 am. So much for getting home early! 🙂 After that, I decided to extend my trip just a little longer. Instead of take the GW bridge back to Jersey, I decided to drive down Manhattan and across the Holland Tunnel into Jersey City.

I’ve always said that I didn’t want to drive in NYC, no matter how much I loved the city. But, if you’re going to do it, there’s no better time to do it than at 2:30-3:00 am. It really is an impressive drive down the west side. I’m glad I decided to conquer that little fear; however, I don’t think I could’ve or would’ve done it during the day.

So after 17 hours, 7 states and 1 car accident, I finally made it back to my apartment in Jersey. It was an incredible trip. I was able to see so much and there’s definitely more that I want to see again. I knew I would love Boston but there were some surprise cities of interest along the way. Providence is on my list of cities to go to again as well as New Haven. Kittery Point was very much worth the drive as well. I even conquered 2 of the 5 boroughs.

I’m ready to do it all over again! Next time, I’ll have to make it to Vermont, but at least I can say I’ve been through most of New England.

Next trip on my to do list, driving down Long Island…I’m headed to the Hamptons! Hopefully, I’ll be able to do that later this week. 🙂